The Son of Skywalker
by These Days
Summary: *Companion to Daughter of my Angel* Darth Vader reflects on his encounter with Luke on Cloud City, on Padme, on Leia. Bittersweet flashbacks on his old life.


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The Son of Skywalker

By Silmariën

A/N: The companion piece to Daughter of my Angel! Finally finished it!! As usual, :*:*: indicates flashbacks.

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"That's not true! Th-a-at's impossible! " The boy's face crumpled as he realized the truth. "Nooooooo!"

I felt a slight twinge at the fact that he was in anguish. If only I had stayed with Obi-Wan. If only -

"No. Don't think that," I told myself angrily. "You are Darth Vader, the most feared man in the galaxy. You are the Dark Lord of -"

The boy looked at me. Then he looked down, down into the gaping hole beneath him. I realised what he was about to do. I reached a hand over -

Luke let go and fell. I watched with horror as he tumbled down into space. I found myself wanting to leap in after him. I couldn't let him die, I couldn't. "The force is with him," I reminded myself. Before my inner struggle could continue, I strong gale forced me back from the platform.

I could just catch a glimpse of him being sucked into an exhast pipe before I turned away.

***

I woke with a start in my meditation chamber. I scolded myself for falling asleep yet again. "What is this, my tenth time this week?" I muttered out loud.

It wasn't so much the occasional lapses into sleep that bothered me, it was the fact that all of my dreams seemed to be about Padmé or Luke, and sometimes that Alderaani princess for a reason I could not fathom. Reminders of my old life. Nightmares.

Something I had once told Padmé floated to the surface of my mind.

:*:*:

"You are having nightmares."

It was not a question, it was a statement.

I took a breath and replied, "Jedi do not have nightmares." Except for this one, I added silently.

"I heard you."

:*:*:

Well, you aren't here to listen to me now, Padmé. I gave you the chance to come with me and rule the galaxy at my side. But no, you refused.

:*:*:

Padmé gave me a look of pure hatred and contempt. I stared into her deep brown eyes, hoping to see at least a glimmer of the old Padmé, the Padmé that had rushed to my side after my arm was severed off, the Padmé who had said her vows on Naboo. She had promised to stay with me forever, and yet now, she was leaving me.

The only sound was the loud, rasping sound of my breathing as I followed her to the transport to carry her off Coruscant.

"Where are you going?"

"To Naboo," she answered flatly without looking up.

"Why won't you stay with me? You will be powerful, more powerful than you would ever be as a member of the Galactic Senate." _Soon to be Imperial Senate_, I added under my breath.

She stopped so suddenly that I almost knocked her over. She spun around and glared at me with such ferocity that I took a small step back.

"Do you think I care about power? Power is nothing. There are more important things. Your craving for power has made you into this monster, kept alive by machines, abandoned by your mentors and friends. I don't need power." She picked up the suitcase she had dropped, turned on her heel and climbed into the transport.

I stood there, stunned by her tirade. "All lies, all lies," I whispered to myself. Then, without warning, all my bottled up thoughts and emotions came raging out at once.

"I kept my promise, Padmé. I promised you, years ago, that I would someday become the most powerful Jedi in the universe. And it has happened! There is no Jedi more powerful than me! But what about you? You promised me that you would stay with me forever, but now you are leaving!" I took a deep breath, and prepared to go on, but she stopped me.

"You are no longer a Jedi. You have chosen to fall to the Dark side, and for that reason, I can't stay with you." She closed the door to the vessel with a snap, closing a door on me and forever abandoning me and her old life.

That was the moment I truly became Darth Vader.

:*:*:

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You are getting more and more soft and sentimental as the years go by, I scolded myself halfheartedly. Of course, there really was no point in scolding myself anymore because I couldn't stop the dreams and reflections, which were getting more and more frequent.

Like at that moment, I found my thoughts drifting to the boy again. My son. Whenever I thought of him, I felt a ripple of thrill and hurt at the same time; thrill that this boy was my creation, mine and Padmé's, and hurt that she never told me. I would have liked it if my wife, his mother had told me instead of hearing of it twenty years later from the Emperor.

His eyes were like mine, light blue and piercing. His hair was mine as well, sandy blonde. He was using my old lightsaber. I had recognised it the moment I saw it. I had felt a small pang of regret when it had fallen into the clouds, lost forever, the same feeling I had when I left it with Obi-Wan.

:*:*:

I carefully laid the lightsaber by Obi-Wan's bedside. I looked for the last time at the shiny metallic gleam of the handle I had so carefully fashioned myself. "This weapon is your life!" I heard Obi-Wan telling me in the streets of Coruscant. _Well, Kenobi, this is my life now._ I brandished my new lightsaber under his nose, revelling in the black and silver tone of the weapon, the beautiful newness and precision, the weight of it in my hand. This is my new life.

:*:*:

I absentmindedly turned my lightsaber over in my hands. It was so much different than my old one. This was a weapon to destruct and kill, not to protect. This was a weapon to help darkness spread, not to keep the peace. But there were still some likenesses, connections to the boy I once was, good and selfless. And a tiny part of that boy still survived, buried in darkness, but still alive. And that small part was determined to see Luke out of the Emperor?s clutches alive.

I had a mission.

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End

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Well, was it good? Was it bad? Can it use improvement? I want your input! I'm not sure what you'll think of the bits about Padmé that I made up, but I do like the end :) Love it! And thanks for reading!


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